a soldier
in a foreign land
my son
is too far away to hold
yesterday ... I bathed him
Giddy Nielsen-Sweep
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
做為一位士兵
駐紮在他鄉異國
兒子離我太遠
使得我無法擁抱他
在我腦海裡昨天 ... 我才幫他洗澡
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
做为一位士兵
驻扎在他乡异国
儿子离我太远
使得我无法拥抱他
在我脑海里昨天昨天 ... 我才帮他洗澡
Bio Sketch
Retiring from nursing for health reasons Giddy Nielsen-Sweep explored writing techniques for ten years, developing a love of Japanese poetry. She writes tanka, haiku, haibun and tanka prose. Her haiku have been published in A Hundred Gourds. Now she is beginning to write more tanka. '
The contrasts (present vs past; lived reality vs mental image; ...) between the two parts of the tanka are thematically significant and emotionally poignant. And Giddy's use of a midline break is visually and emotionally effective.
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